Breaking the Rules
by TheScarletRanger
Summary: Emily really likes Jayden but whether or not he returns the feelings isn't the only problem
1. First Meetings

**Breaking Rules**

**Emily really likes Jayden but whether or not he returns the feelings isn't the only problem**

**Ch. 1 First Meetings**

Emily saw a car with the samurai symbol and ran after it. She saw a boy and girl that looked slightly older than her talking outside the car. "Are you the red ranger?" Emily asked.

"No, I'm the blue. My name's Kevin,"

"And I'm Mia, the pink ranger. Are you the yellow ranger?"

"Yeah, my name's Emily," She heard footsteps behind her and turned around.

"You guys must be my peeps," The boy said.

"You're the red ranger?" Kevin asked.

"No," He replied sounding slightly insulted. "I'm mighty green, name's Mike." He added.

They all heard a horse and looked in the distance. A boy was riding the horse and galloped up to them. "Whoa," Emily said.

"With an entrance like that you have to be the red ranger," Mike said.

The boy on the horse held up his folding zord. "Yes, I am the red ranger,"

"We're your team of samurai," Kevin said nobly.

"Let me warn you now, if you follow me there is no turning back. Either we will defeat the nighlok together or they will take over the world," He held up his samuraizer. "I will give these only to those who are ready to accept the challenge," He got off the horse and took a few steps towards the others. "Do not accept because you are trained to do so, accept only if you are willing to commit and fight as samurai power rangers with all your heart."

"Without hesitation," Kevin said.

"I've been planning for this day since I was a little girl, so yes," Mia said.

"I'm ready to give it all I've got," Emily smiled.

"Okay, okay, do we have to be so formal? Lets do this thing."

He reached into his pack and tossed them all their samuraizers. "Thanks," Emily said. "What's your name by the way?" She asked.

"Jayden, now lets go."

After they defeated the nighlok Jayden lead them back to the mansion. "What a rush," Emily said holding her folding zord. "We did good,"

"Piece of cake," Mike commented.

"We could've never done it without each other," Jayden added.

"Thank you for leading us into battle," Kevin said to Jayden.

"Bravo," Ji said walking outside. "Such energy, such grace."

"Who is that?" Mike asked.

"This is Ji, our mentor." Jayden answered.

"Welcome to your new home," Ji said to the new rangers. "You've all come from different places and families but share one noble goal. I'm very proud of how you've come together,"

"We just followed some good advice and worked as a team,"

"Yes, but you are not just any team. You are the samurai rangers."

"We actually get to live here?" Emily asked looking at the size of the house.

"Yes, now follow me inside. I have a few rules to discuss with all of you before you get a tour." Ji walked back inside. Everyone looked at each other before following Ji inside. They sat in the living room. "The first rule is of the utmost importance." Ji started. "Nobody can know you are a ranger, it may just put whoever knows in danger."

"I guess that makes sense." Kevin said.

"The rest of the rules are house rules," Ji continued. "you will train in the mornings before breakfast, after breakfast you will work on your symbol power. After lunch you will train for another hour. If you go into the city for any reason, you must be back by your ten o'clock curfew."

"A ten o'clock curfew?" Mike asked. "You're kidding right?"

"No, you will need plenty of rest, especially since Master Xandred will be sending more and more nighlok into our world."

"Not to mention that we get up at six," Jayden added.

"Six?" Mike's eyes bulged out. "I didn't get up that early for school."

"Can I give them the tour now Ji?" Jayden asked.

"Yes," The five teens stood up and started for the next room. "Oh, one more thing." They stopped and looked at Ji again. "I almost forgot, are any of you involved in a romantic relationship?" They all shook their heads. "Good, now that you are samurai rangers you cannot date anyone, especially each other."

"Don't worry Ji," Jayden said on behalf of everyone before leading everyone out again.

"So we've got a strict training schedule and I can't date anymore?" Mike asked.

"He did say that anyone who knows about us being rangers could be in danger," Kevin said.

"Yeah, but then why is it against the rules to date each other?" Emily asked.

"I'm not sure, he gave me the same speech years ago." Jayden said.

Emily sat in her room typing on her laptop.

_Dear Digital Diary,_

_It's been a month and I still can't stop thinking about him. I remember when the team first met and how he came up riding on a white horse, it was almost like a fairytale with him as the handsome prince. He's such an amazing fighter, I hope one day I can get up to his level. I can't help but wonder if there's any chance of him returning my feelings. Like I mentioned when I first got here, I'm too nervous to ask him if he likes me back and Ji made it perfectly clear that we can't start any romantic relationships, especially with each other._

"Emily," Mia called. "dinner's ready,"

"I'll be right there." She answered back. "Guess this is where my entry ends," Emily saved the document and shut off her laptop before heading to the kitchen. When she got there, everyone but Jayden was sitting down to eat. "Hey guys,"

"Hey, what have you been up to?" Mike asked.

"I was just on my laptop," Emily answered.

Jayden entered the kitchen next. "Dinner smells great."

"Where have you been?" Mike asked like he did Emily.

"Meditating, we had a tough battle today and meditating is a great way to relax."

"Okay you two," Ji said setting the salad bowl in the center of the table. "Sit and eat,"

"Is salad all we're getting Ji?" Mia asked.

"No, it's just the first course."

Emily and Jayden went to sit in the last two open seats. "Allow me," Jayden pulled out the first chair and gestured for Emily to sit.

Emily smiled and did her best not to blush. "Thank you Jayden," She said sitting down. _"He is so polite," _She thought.

"You're welcome," He said before sitting in his chair.


	2. Is it Possible?

**Ch. 2 Is it Possible?**

Jayden observed as the others were sparring. Emily would glance at him every once in a while and it almost seemed like he was only watching her. Each time she looked at him he was always looking back at her. Emily seemed to be distracted which gave Mia the opportunity to trip her with her training stick.

"Emily!" She heard Jayden gasp. He ran over to her. "Are you okay?" He asked concerned.

"Yeah, I guess I wasn't paying enough attention."

"I saw the hit, is your ankle okay?"

"Yeah, it's fine.

"Just to be sure let me move you to the bench so I can take a look at it."

"That's sweet Jayden but I swear I'm fine."

"Better safe than sorry," He picked her up bridal style and carried her to the bench. Emily blushed the whole walk to the bench. Jayden set her down and carefully took her shoe and sock off and examined her ankle. "Does this hurt?" Jayden asked slowly rotating her ankle.

"No, it doesn't."

"I guess I should've taken your word for it."

"I told you I was fine,"

"I'm sorry Emily. I just can't help but worry about you…all of you I mean." Jayden said avoiding eye contact with her.

Emily could've sworn she saw Jayden blush. "I think it's really sweet that you really care."

"Thanks, I guess I should let you get back to practice."

Everyone got back to practicing and this time Emily was paired up with Mike. Ever since the battle when Emily accidently hit Jayden with her earth slicer, she has felt that she was the weakest link of the team. She had managed to take Mike down but Emily was scared that she actually hurt him. She ended up chasing him around the house with a bag of peas and ended up tripping with her face hitting the bag and the peas getting all over Emily's face. After Emily cleaned the peas off her face and the floor, the gap sensor went off. The nighlok seemed to attack everyone without even touching them merely by insulting them. Everyone but Emily was affected and back at the house they were trying to figure out why.

"I was teased a lot when I was younger so my…parents helped me learn to ignore them and it actually worked."

"But you're always putting yourself down. Why?" Mike asked. "Unless you really believe that about yourself." He added.

"No I…I'm sorry," Emily got up and left holding back tears.

Jayden had watched her leave, his eye begging her to stay. "Mike, the nighlok can't hurt her feelings but _you _can," He heard Mia say.

"Aw man, I guess I should talk to her."

"I think you've said enough to her," Jayden said to Mike. He got up and went after Emily. He found her sitting on the bench outside playing her flute. "Emily," She stopped playing and turned around. "you shouldn't listen to Mike."

"I know I shouldn't but I know the truth. I'm a klutz and the weakest member of the team."

"No you're not," Jayden sat next to her. "and you're not a klutz,"

"You didn't see what happened with the peas earlier and don't you remember one of our first battles? I accidentally hurt you with my earth slicer." Emily reminded.

"Actually you didn't, it almost hit me and I backed up giving the nighlok an opening. And if I remember correctly, after he struck me down he tried attacking me again and you ran in and protected me. That was the most selfless thing I've ever seen. You're _not _the weakest member of the team, you're the heart."

"You really think that?" Emily asked touched by his words.

"Of course I do, you even defended me earlier in the battle."

"I didn't want to believe what he said,"

"I don't know how he knew but what he said was true. I do have a secret and I really wish I could tell you."

"You don't have to tell us anything you don't want to."

"No, I want to tell you but I can't. I hope one day I can."

"When you're ready I guess."

"Can you do me a favor Emily?"

"Sure,"

"I don't like hearing you put yourself down so can you make an effort not to?" Jayden asked.

"I'll try,"

"Good, and from now on every time you put yourself down I'm going to say something nice about you so you remember how wonderful you are."

Emily wrapped her arms around Jayden's waist. "Thanks Jayden, you really made me feel better."

Jayden wrapped an arm around her and held her. "You're welcome."

"Jayden, Emily," Ji called from the door. "the nighlok is back,"

Jayden looked at Emily. "Ready to beat this bully?"

"Yeah,"

"Then lets go," They got up ready to fight another battle.

During the entire fight, the others tried ignoring the nighlok's words but weren't doing a good job of it. Emily single-handedly took the nighlok's first life. They combined their Zords destroyed the nighlok. As soon as he was destroyed, Emily fainted. They all headed back to the house with Jayden carrying Emily on his back. When they reached the house, Jayden went to Emily's room and laid her down on her bed.

Emily stirred when she was laid on the bed. "Jayden?"

"Yeah it's me," He replied softly.

"What happened?"

"You fainted after we destroyed the nighlok. I'm very proud of you."

"You are?"

"Yeah, you stood up to him and took him out all on your own. I think tomorrow we should be sparring partners."

"Really?" Jayden nodded. "We've never sparred against each other."

"There's a first time for everything. I'll go get you some tea to help you feel batter,"

"I'm fine Jayden."

"Just to be sure,"

"Are we having the same argument from this morning?"

"Well like I said earlier, I can't help but worry about you." He walked out of the room to get Emily some tea.

"He's so nice to me," Emily sighed happily. "Is it possible he thinks of me as more than a friend?" She smiled brightly as she imagined him confessing his love for her and kissing her passionately like in the sappy love movies she loves so much.

**Forgot to mention that the school I'm currently attending doesn't have wi-fi anymore, I'm taking a week of personal days staying at home so I'm hoping to have this story finished before I go back next weekend. Hope you guys are liking the story so far.**


	3. Bed Rest

**Feels great to be back & uploading new stories, thanks for the reviews even though there isn't much I appreciate the positvie feedback**

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**Ch. 3 Bed Rest**

Ji watched as Jayden was training with Kevin while Mia and Mike trained together. They had started without Emily and Jayden was worried something was wrong because had never been late before. "Do you think something's wrong with Emily?" Jayden asked Kevin swinging his training sword at him.

"I don't know," He replied countering Jayden's move. "why do you ask?"

"Because usually she gets here the same time I do."

"Hey guys," Emily called running out. Her hair was a mess and her skin looked pale. "sorry I'm ah-ah-achoo!" she sneezed. "late," she finished.

"Emily are you okay?" Mia asked as everyone gathered around her.

"I'm fine, achoo!" She sneezed again.

Ji felt her forehead. "You're burning up Emily."

Emily pushed his hand away. "I told you I'm fine," Emily went to grab a training sword but got a dizzy spell. She placed her hand on the wall to steady herself.

"You are going to have to go on bed rest until you feel better. Jayden, help her to her room."

"Come on Em," Jayden grabbed her wrist and set his other hand on the small of her back hoping to keep her steady as they headed to her room. "Did this all start this morning?" Jayden asked as they entered Emily's room.

"No, I actually felt this way before going to sleep last night." Emily suddenly had a sneezing fit.

Jayden grabbed the box of tissues nearby and handed it to Emily. "You must've caught something when we went swimming at the beach yesterday." Jayden thought back to the day before and remembered how amazing Emily looked in her bikini.

"It's not fair." Emily complained blowing her nose. "How come you guys didn't get sick?"

"Well, you were in the water the longest, it's ocean water so it's cold and our beach is windy."

Emily laid down on her bed. "This really stinks, what if there's an attack today?"

"We'll handle it if there is."

"But you won't be able to form the-"

"Emily," Jayden interrupted. "I admire that you want to keep to keep fighting in your condition but the rest of us will manage. It'll be hard without you but we'll manage. You have to stay in bed and get better." Jayden pulled her covers up to keep her warm. "I'll see if I can get some medicine for you to take care of the fever then I'll make you some soup. I'll keep you company if you want."

"Jayden, you can't spend your entire day cooped up in here taking care of me,"

"Says who?"

"I'm sure you have other things to do, like training for example."

"Ji will understand if I take the day off."

"Take a day off? In the two months I've known you you've never taken time off. Not even when Ji gave us a day off."

Jayden shrugged his shoulders. "I've never had a good reason to." Emily smiled and blushed slightly. "I'll be right back." Jayden returned a minute later with a glass of water and two small pills. "Take these, they'll help with the fever and your dizziness."

"Thanks Jayden," Emily popped the first pill and took a drink, she did the same with the other pill.

Jayden took the water back. "I'm going to go start making your soup, just call if you need anything before I come back."

"I will, and thanks again, achoo!"

"No problem," A while later Jayden returned with a tray holding a bowl of vegetable soup and a glass of orange juice. "The juice will help boost your immune system as well as the soup." He said setting the tray in Emily's lap.

"What kind of soup is this?" Emily asked tasting it.

"Vegetable soup, my mom would make it for me when I got sick. Then I made it for her when she started getting sick." Jayden let out a sad sigh.

"You okay?" Emily had never seen Jayden look so sad before.

"Yeah, I just miss her."

"What did she have?" She asked carefully.

"Ovarian cancer, she barely made it a year after being diagnosed."

"That must've been so hard for you,"

"After the funeral my dad brought me here and I started my training."

Emily placed her hand on Jayden's. "I'm sorry you lost her Jayden,"

"Thanks," Jayden cleared his throat. "You should eat up."

Not long after she finished the soup, Emily had fallen asleep. Jayden sat in her room and watched her sleep with a smile on his face. Sick or not, she looked like a peaceful angel when she was sleeping. He couldn't help the way she made him feel and didn't know what to do about his feelings. He didn't know how Emily felt about him and even if she did feel the same Ji had told them they weren't allowed to be together.

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**Sorry for the short chapter but at least Jayden shared something personal with Emily again**


	4. Telling a Secret

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**This chapter is a bit longer than the last one, also the next two chapters after this one are pretty short so they'll be uploaded on the same day. Hope I can get more reviews with this new chapter added :)**

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**Ch. 4 Telling a Secret**

Emily sat in bed sending a private e-mail to her sister.

_Dear Serena,_

_I'm sorry I haven't sent anything the last two weeks, we've been busy with attacks and I've been sick the last two days. Jayden's spending all his time taking care of me. He's such a sweetie. Hope everything at home is okay. How are mom and dad? How are you doing? I feel a little guilty that I haven't told the others about you. I don't know how they'll react if they learn that I'm not the true yellow samurai. I still don't know what to do about Jayden. I know mentor told us we couldn't date, each other of all people but I can't help how I feel about him. I wish I knew what to do, I've never felt this way about anyone. Do you have any advice?_

Emily sent the e-mail just as Jayden walked in with more orange juice. "I brought you some more juice."

"Thanks,"

"What were you doing?" He asked handing her the glass.

"I was sending an e-mail home," Emily answered before taking a drink.

"To your parents?"

"Um…my sister actually."

"Oh, you never mentioned a little sister."

"She's not my little sister," She said quietly.

"So she's your older sister then?" Emily nodded. "Then why isn't she here? Not that I don't like having you here because I do, but I don't know if I understand why you're here."

"She's really sick," Emily sighed. "I started training after she was first diagnosed with her disease. I was only twelve."

"I'm sorry about your sister,"

"Thanks, please don't tell the others. This is supposed to be Serena's destiny not mine."

"I won't tell anyone. This job is a bit of a burden and having heard you took the responsibility when your sister couldn't only makes you stronger to me."

"It does?"

"Yes, we sacrifice a lot for this job. We train from childhood and keep training even after actually fighting. We never had the chance to be kids or now teenagers, at least I never did growing up here." Jayden sighed as memories came back to him.

_(Flashback)_

_Ji walked out to the training area and found Jayden drawing and coloring. "Jayden you should be practicing your symbol power, not drawing sketches."_

"_Can I play now and practice tomorrow?" A young Jayden asked._

"_Jayden, your father didn't leave you with me to play. He left you with me so I can train you in the ways of being a samurai and drawing these meaningless pictures aren't going to help you save the world." Ji said taking Jayden's drawing and crumpling it up. "Now get to work." Ji ordered._

_Jayden sighed and began drawing a symbol. "All I've done the last six months is work." He grumbled._

_(End Flashback)_

"I didn't get the chance to socialize with others after I came here. When Ji would take me to town with him when he went to market I'd look out the car window and watch the other children play in their yards and the playground. I felt jealous and alone. One time I actually got out of the car and went to play in the park with a boy named Antonio and Ji was furious with me. He grabbed my arm and literally dragged me to the car."

"I guess you had it hard growing up huh?"

"It wasn't _that _bad. Better me than the rest of you."

"I admire that, you'd much rather suffer than see the rest of suffer."

"You're the same. Taking that hit for me, taking your sister's place, even wanting to keep fighting even though you have the flu. You're a true fighter Emily."

"Thanks but I'm nowhere near as great a fighter as you."

"I can give you some private training if you want."

"I'd like that, sounds like it'd be a great help."

"It will be. Plus it'll make the team even harder to defeat and it'll be good quality time we'll be spending together."

"If you're going to train me to fight like you, why don't you train the others too?"

"Because they don't have the determination that you have."

"I just want to make Serena proud."

"If you've been keeping her up to date on everything going on around here then I'm sure she's very proud of you."

"Or she may feel like she's missing out. She was born for this, not me."

"Yes you were, it's in your blood."

"Until Serena got sick I was just my parents' other daughter. I didn't get much attention from my parents and the kids at school teased me, Serena was the one that taught me to ignore them."

"Well at least she gave you attention when your parents didn't."

"I also didn't get the same training she did. My mom had to balance out training me and taking care of my sister. That's partly why I'm not as good as the rest of you."

"Who says you're not as good as the rest of us? If anything I think you're better."

Emily shook her head in disagreement. "You're just saying that."

"I'm not, you've got the heart of a samurai in you and you strive to be the best to prove to yourself that you belong here but please believe me, you _do_ belong here just as much as the others do."

"You really mean that?"

"Of course I do, why would you ask me that?"

"I guess I'm lacking in self-confidence."

"You have no reason to be lacking any."

"Thanks Jayden," Emily let out a soft yawn.

"Sleepy?"

"Yeah, I guess so."

"I'll let you get some sleep then," Jayden grabbed the now empty glass and left the room. He returned a minute later with an extra blanket but Emily was already asleep. "She must've been sleepier than she thought." Jayden covered Emily with the extra blanket and went to turn off her lamp when Emily's laptop beeped. An e-mail opened from Serena.

_Dear Emily,_

_I'm sorry you've been sick but glad you're being taken care of. I'm sure soon you'll be all better and out saving the world again. Everything here is fine, mom and dad are fine and the doctor says I'm starting to show signs of improvement! I'm sorry I don't know what to do about your situation though. If it wasn't against the rules to be with him then I'd say go for it, but then again you don't know how Jayden feels about you. Would he be worth breaking the rules for?_

Jayden didn't mean to read the message but he was glad he did. For weeks he drove himself crazy trying to figure out how Emily felt about him and now he could rest easy. He closed the laptop, turned off the lamp and left the room with a smile on his face.

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**Isn't it so cute how I can make them easily talk & confide in each other when they're having their moments? Poor Jayden didn't get to play as a kid but ironically as a man in his late teens all he does is work**

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	5. What to do

**Once again I really appreciate the great reviews**

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**Ch. 5 What to do**

Jayden was pacing around his room. He didn't know what to do about Emily. He was glad she felt the same way about him as he felt for her but it was forbidden. He didn't want to break Ji's rules but at the same time he didn't want to pass up what could possibly turn out to be true love. He tried weighing everything out in his head but nothing seemed to matter more than the fact that Emily wanted to be with him.

Jayden plopped down on his bed with a heavy sigh. "What do I do?" He asked himself.

"What do you do about what?" A voice asked.

Jayden looked at his door and saw Mike standing there. "Mike, what are you doing up?"

"I got out of bed for some water. Now what were you wondering about what to do?"

"I may need some advice, think you can help me?"

"I'll do what I can." Jayden brought Mike into his room and closed the door. "You okay dude? I've never seen you like this before."

"I've never had a problem like this before."

"What's going on?"

"It's about a girl," Jayden blushed.

"Oh, enough said. You've got it for a girl and you're having trouble deciding whether or not to break the rules and hide a relationship?"

"Exactly,"

"Well, does she like you? Have you talked to her?"

"I heard from someone who heard it from her that she likes me and doesn't know what to do."

"Why wouldn't she know what to do?" Mike asked.

"Um…" Jayden didn't want to say it was Emily. "Her parents don't allow her to date."

"Seriously? Where did you meet this girl? How long have you known her?"

"I met her in town two months ago. I don't know what to do." Jayden started pacing again.

"Dude, calm yourself down." Mike stopped Jayden in his tracts. "Well, tell me more about her."

"Well, she's sweet, caring, bubbly. She's got a wonderful spirit."

"Is she pretty?"

"Beautiful."

"Do you care about her?"

"Of course I do."

"Then I've got to ask, do you care enough about her to break the rules?"

Jayden rolled his eyes. "If I knew the answer to that I wouldn't be having this problem Mike."

"I know that, I guess what I meant to say is that if it was me then I'd let the girl know how I felt and then keep our relationship secret."

"But we'd have to keep it a secret from everyone, not just her parents."

"So I'd be the only one to know you've got a girlfriend?"

"You would, but that's if I decide to go through with it and I'm not giving you a name."

Mike smiled. "Sounds to me like you don't have a problem anymore."

"Thanks for the advice Mike," Mike nodded and left the room to go to bed. Jayden laid on his bed and thought about what Mike had told him. He quietly left his room and went down the hall to Emily's room. Jayden walked to the bed and kissed her forehead. "You're worth breaking the rules for." He whispered.

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**I know it's short but that's why I'm uploading the next chapter as well, but I warn you, it's just as short as this one**


	6. What to do: Part Two

**As promised, chapter six**

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**Ch. 6 What to do: Part Two**

The next day Emily was feeling all better. She read Serena's e-mail and went to shower. After her shower she dressed for practice. When she got there, Jayden was the only one there. "Hey Jayden,"

Jayden turned around and smiled. "Morning Emily. I take it you're feeling better?"

"Yeah, thank you for taking care of me,"

"No problem, I'm just glad you're okay & I'm glad you trusted me with your secret."

"Thank you for telling me a bit about your childhood."

Jayden cleared his throat nervously. "Emily, now that you're better there's something I want to talk to you about."

"What is it?"

Jayden saw the others coming out. "We'll talk later,"

"Hey Emily!" Mia hugged her friend. "Glad you're better."

"Me too," Emily replied hugging her back.

"Okay guys, lets get practicing." Jayden ordered.

After their practice session they ate breakfast. Jayden didn't get a chance to talk to Emily and decided the best time would be when he'd give Emily her private training session. While Jayden was trying to think of what to say, Emily pulled Mia into her room. She decided she needed some more advice since her sister's didn't really help.

"What's going on Emily?" Mia asked sitting on her bed.

"I've got a problem and I need some advice."

"What is it?"

"I really like this guy but I don't know what to do. I don't even know if he likes me back."

"I don't think finding out how he feels is your biggest problem." Mia said thoughtfully. "We're not allowed to date until after we're done here, remember?"

"I know, but there's always a chance this guy could be the one."

"I don't know what to tell you Emily. Personally I wouldn't want to risk breaking the rules."

"Then you think I shouldn't go for it?" Emily asked saddened.

"No, at least not now. Seriously, we can't tell anyone about being rangers and what are you going to do if you have to go into battle in the middle of a date?"

"I guess you make a good point. I guess I should just forget about him."

"Well, if he's not worth breaking the rules for is he worth waiting for?"

Emily thought about it for a few seconds. "Yes," she finally answered.

"Then hopefully by the time we're done here he'll still be available."

"Thanks for the advice Mia."

"No problem," Mia left Emily's room to go to her own.

Emily sat on her bed and thought about what Mia said. "He's worth waiting for, but he's worth breaking the rules for too."

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**They think the other is worth breaking the rules for, but will they go through with it? Find out in chapter seven**


	7. Moment of Truth

**I feel I must warn/disappoint my fans by saying that this is my shortest chapter but I don't think anyone will be too upset considering what happens in the chapter**

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**Ch. 7 Moment of Truth**

Jayden was waiting for Emily out in the training area. He had thought about what he was going to say all day. He knew they would have more to talk about than just their feelings like how they were going to hide their relationship from everyone. He turned around when he heard footsteps behind him. He smiled when he saw Emily heading out in her training suit.

"Right on time Emily,"

"I didn't want to be late." Emily said grabbing a training sword.

"Before we start, there's something I've been wanting to talk to you about all day."

"What is it?"

"I didn't mean to but I saw the message from your sister pop up on your laptop last night."

Emily got scared and embarrassed. "You did?"

"Yeah,"

"Jayden…" She trailed off not knowing what to say.

"If you're going to say you're sorry don't. I'm glad I saw it."

"You are?"

"Yeah, it's a relief knowing how you really feel about me,"

Emily didn't know what to say. "It is?" Was all she managed to say.

"Yeah, because for a while now I've been having the same problem." Emily could only stare at Jayden in shock. Jayden smiled and cupped Emily's face in his hands and leaned down experiencing his first kiss. When they pulled apart they smiled at each other. "You're worth breaking the rules for, am I?"

"Yes," Emily leaned up for enough kiss but Jayden backed away. "What's wrong?"

"We need to discuss this before we do anything else."

Emily nodded her head. "Right," They went to sit on the bench holding hands. "So how do you suggest we do this?"

"Well, we'll have to act as if nothing has changed for one. None of the others can know about us obviously, especially Ji."

"Yeah, he didn't really say what would happen if we broke the rules."

"Exactly, so obviously we have to keep this a secret. But I think it'd be okay if you told your sister since she already knows how you feel about me."

"Hope she won't be disappointed that I'm breaking the rules."

"Well if you're worried about that then we can keep this a total secret."

"A secret relationship sounds really romantic actually." Emily frowned when a thought popped into her head. "Would it be possible to go out on dates?"

"We'll find a way," Jayden said after a minute. "Maybe something simple like a walk after everyone's asleep. We can go out as a group to a movie and then just sit together,"

"I like the sound of that. Think we can have that walk tonight after everyone's asleep?"

"I don't see why not. But for now, I think we should have your training session." Jayden said standing up.

Emily stood up as well. "Okay, where do we start?"

Jayden and Emily were walking on the beach hand in hand enjoying their time together. "So when exactly did you start to feel things for me?" Jayden asked.

"I instantly thought you were good looking. I mean, you rode up on a horse like the handsome prince."

"Riding up to his princess. I always thought you were beautiful but after getting to know you my feelings started to grow. I've never felt this way before."

"Me neither. All the guys back home prefer Serena over me."

"Well what's their loss is my gain."

Emily smiled. "I like the sound of that,"

"I've got to be honest, I asked Mike for some advice about a girl so he may suspect something."

"I asked Mia for advice too. She told me to wait."

"Mike told me to go for it,"

Emily stopped walking and wrapped her arms around his neck. "I'm glad you listened to him,"

"Me too," Jayden wrapped his arms around her waist and leaned down kissing Emily.

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**It's about time right? How long can they sneak around before everyone finds out their secret?**


	8. You Seem Different

**I'd like to apologize in advance for the shortness of this chapter (it's just a filler chapter anyway)**

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**Ch. 8 You Seem Different**

It had been two months since Jayden and Emily had decided to be together and so far they had kept up appearances with everyone. The only thing was that the others noticed they seemed a lot more happier and carefree, especially Jayden since it's totally not like him. After practice, Mia pulled Emily aside.

"What's going on with you Emily?" Mia asked.

"What do you mean?"

"You seem different, you're way happier."

"Is that a crime?"

"Would your new extra happiness have anything to do with that guy you liked?"

"Actually yes." Emily answered. "I talked to him and told him it was a bad time to be getting into a relationship. He said he understood and that he'd wait for me." She lied hoping Mia bought it.

"I'm so glad to hear that. But you know you can't let your supposed new relationship get in the way of being a ranger. You have to stay focused."

"I _am_ focused Mia, I'm just happy knowing that I may have found the guy I'm supposed to be with."

"Well I'm happy for you Emily, really I am but remember not to let Ji find out."

"He won't find out Mia, I promise."

Jayden walked up to the girls dressed in his casual clothes. "Hey girls, am I interrupting something?"

"No, what's going on?"

"I'm just going to head into town. Ji wants me to take a break. He thinks I'm working too hard."

"You _do_ work too hard. The only time you've taken time off was when Emily was sick."

"Ji thinks that time off was good for me so he told me he's randomly going to pick times for me to take a break. Today he wants me to go to a movie." He reached into his pocket and pulled out some money. "Ji only gave me enough money for two tickets. One of you want to go to the movies?"

"I could see a movie." Emily volunteered.

"You want to go now?"

"Sure, just let me go change into some regular clothes."

"Okay, I'll wait for you here." Jayden watched as Emily walked away.

"You seem different Jayden." Mia said.

Jayden looked back at Mia. "What do you mean?"

"I was telling Emily that she seemed different and now that I think about it so do you."

"Well I've changed a bit since I've known you guys."

"It took four months of being around us for you to loosen up?"

"You've got to keep in mind how long I've been living here training."

"How long _have _you been here?"

"I came here when I was eight so ten years. That's a lot to make up for."

"I'm ready to go Jayden," Emily said walking up to Jayden and Mia.

"See you later Mia," Jayden and Emily headed out the doors. "You look really nice Emily," Jayden said after a few minutes.

"Thank you, you're so sweet Jayden."

A few hours later, Jayden and Emily returned for dinner soaking wet. Everyone was wondering what happened considering it hadn't rained that day. "What happened to you two?" Kevin asked.

"After the movie we went for a walk by the lake," Emily started.

"And Emily decided it'd be really fun if she pushed me into it," Jayden added.

"And when I started laughing he pulled me into the lake with him." Emily finished.

"I had to get my revenge somehow." Jayden said in his defense.

"Okay, you two go dry off, dinner's almost ready." Ji said to the dripping teens.

"Okay," They left the kitchen and headed towards their rooms. "I had a really great time today Jayden," Emily said standing outside her room.

"Me too, we should do it again soon." Jayden leaned down and kissed her on the lips. "I'll see you at dinner," He said before entering his room.

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**I'm sorry again the last few chapters have been short, but I promise the next few chapters are pretty long. Chapters 9 through 13 are all over 1000 words, currently working on chapter 14**


	9. I Love You

**Didn't want to keep loyal fans of this story waiting until tomorrow so here's the next chapter, enjoy!**

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**Ch. 9 I Love You**

Jayden was quietly walking around the house. He knew Emily was in her room talking to her family. They both wished she could go home for the weekend since it was her birthday but they couldn't risk it even with the recent arrival of the gold ranger who turned out to be Jayden's childhood friend Antonio. He crept into the living room where the others were setting up for Emily's party.

"This place is looking great guys, Emily's gonna love it."

"All we need now is for me to bake the cake." Mia said.

"No!" Mike said quickly. "I mean, Antonio's in town getting the snacks. He said he'd get the cake too." He saved.

"Oh," Mia said rather disappointed. "I guess I'll bake a cake for the next person's birthday."

"I think Mike's is the next one," Kevin laughed earning a glare from Mike.

"We have to make sure to keep Emily out of here, we can't risk her walking in here or seeing Antonio with the food and cake." Mia said.

"I'll keep her distracted for the day," Jayden volunteered. "You guys just call me when you're ready for us to come back."

"You got it,"

Jayden left his friends and headed towards Emily's room. He bumped into her along the way almost knocking them both over. "You okay Em?" Jayden asked steadying her.

"Yeah, you?"

"I'm fine, I wanna take you out today. You can pick out your gift."

"You don't have to get me anything Jayden,"

"I want to, you're my girlfriend and I want to spoil you on your birthday."

"Well if you insist,"

"I do, come on." Jayden took her hand and they headed out.

"This place is awesome guys," Antonio said setting the cake on the table.

"Yeah, we really did a great job." Kevin said admiring their hard work.

"Yeah, and that cake looks delicious." Mike commented looking at the cake.

"Where's Jayden?" He asked looking around.

"He's keeping Emily distracted in town." Mike answered still eyeing the cake with want.

"Don't you dare touch that cake." Mia warned. The gap sensor started going off and everyone groaned. "Why today?" Mia whined.

"We better get going," Kevin said assuming leader while Jayden was out.

When the four got to where the nighlok was attacking, they saw Emily push Jayden out of the way of a blast. They saw Emily demorph and a small ball of light left her body. When the nighlok caught the ball of light, Emily fell to the ground unconscious.

"Her spirit was delicious," The nighlok gloated.

"Emily!" Jayden screamed going to her side.

"Come on guys, lets get the nighlok." Antonio said.

"Emily wake up!" Jayden begged. When she wouldn't wake up Jayden's anger reached its boiling point. He tightened his grip on his sword and stood up. He charged for the nighlok ready to destroy it. "What did you do to her?" Jayden shouted swinging his sword at the nighlok.

"Her spirit was delicious!" The nighlok laughed. "You have until the sun sets to get her spirit back but that doesn't matter since I'm going back to the nether world for the rest of the day!" He laughed before entering a crack in a pillar.

"Lets get her back to the house Jayden," Antonio said placing a hand on his friend's shoulder hoping to calm him down. Jayden nodded and went to pick up Emily carrying her the whole way back to the house.

Mia was dabbing a damp towel on Emily's face when she started to stir. "Emily's awake!" She called out to everyone. Everyone but Antonio ran into the room in a flash.

"I'm sorry guys," Emily said to everyone. "I let him get me,"

"Emily don't be silly," Mike said sitting next to Emily. "We're just glad you're okay," He said handing her a glass of water.

"Thanks for putting on a brave face, but I know I'm not okay." Emily looked down and sighed. "I feel so empty inside." Emily said.

"Don't worry," Mia said. "We'll figure it out."

Jayden kneeled down by Emily's bedside. "We're not gonna let you down, we'll save you." He assured. "Just hold on until then." He said managing a small brave smile. Emily tried to return the smile but her eyes drooped and she fell asleep again. Jayden's smile fell when Emily's eyes closed again.

"Oh no, she's falling asleep again,"

Mike got angry and ran out of the room. "Mike!" Kevin called after him.

One by one the others ran after him. Jayden didn't want to leave Emily but knew he had to follow Mike. He looked up at his mentor. "Look after her," Ji nodded and Jayden ran after his team mates.

"You can't do this to Emily!" Mike said to a crack in a pillar in town. "Do you hear me?" He shouted slashing at the crack with his spin sword.

Kevin and Mia ran up to him and had him stop. "Calm down Mike! That isn't going to do anything." Mia said.

"Then what should we do?" Mike asked helplessly. "Tell me, what should we do,"

Mia and Kevin looked at each other not knowing what to say. "Mike!" Jayden called finally catching up with them. Jayden stopped in his tracks when Deker popped up out of nowhere in his human form. "You!" Jayden said getting angry at just the site of him. He had been trying to fight Jayden for the last three months looking for some sort of 'ultimate duel'.

"It seems I have bad timing," Deker said. "I thought we could finally duel but it seems you're already preoccupied."

"If you know that then go away," He walked around Deker to his friends. "I don't have time for your games Deker."

"I can help you enter the netherworld."

"Somehow I doubt that."

"There _is _a way for humans like you to enter the netherworld." He said to Jayden. Jayden turned around to look at Deker. "And that is to exchange your human existence to become a nighlok." He answered. "Willingly give yourself over to them and pass through the gap."

"Wait, are you saying you made that choice?"

"I don't remember how it happened to me," He answered. "But I'm living proof it can be done." He added before shifting into his nighlok form. "I welcome you to do it, you can then fight in ways no living human can. It will make our appending duel even more glorious." Deker got close to Jayden. "How much are you willing to sacrifice to save the woman you love?" He whispered in his ear.

Jayden looked at Deker with wide eyes. "How-"

"I've been watching you red ranger," He said nothing else and disappeared.

"Become a nighlok?" Mia asked to no one in particular.

"I say we do it," Mike said. "You all know Emily's the best of us, she has the sweetest most caring spirit and right now Xandred is going too far trying to take our little sister away from us."

"Then if anyone should do this I should," Jayden said.

"You? We're a team," Kevin reminded.

"I know, but nighloks are monsters and you guys shouldn't become monsters to save Emily."

"So you expect us to just sit back and watch as you become one?" Mia asked.

"It seems like this half nighlok thing is a curse on Deker and I'd much rather live with the curse than to have to watch the rest of you live with it."

"What did Deker say to you?" Mike asked.

"What?"

"He said something to you, what was it?"

"Guys!" Everyone turned around and saw Antonio running up to them with Ji's symbol book. "I know a way to get the nighlok back out here."

"How?"

"When we were fighting earlier I imprinted a symbol on the nighlok. If we can bring the claw zord to life it'll activate the symbol and bring him back out here."

"Really?" Kevin asked.

"Yeah, I found the symbol but it's going to need all of us since it takes a lot of power."

"Then lets do it." Jayden said on behalf of everyone.

The five rangers each used their symbol power to bring the claw zord to life. It took several attempts to get enough power but eventually it came to life and the nighlok was pulled out of the nether world. After their victory, they rushed back to the mansion to check on Emily. She was sitting up in bed drinking a glass of water which almost spilled when Jayden pulled her into his arms for a fierce hug.

"I'm so glad you're okay," He said relieved.

"I'm so glad you guys saved me." She said returning the hug.

"How you feeling Emily?" Mia asked from the doorway with the other boys.

"Still a little weak but I'm starting to feel better."

"That's good,"

"Maybe we should let you rest for a little bit," Mike suggested.

"Really guys I think I'll be fine in a few minutes. You don't have to leave."

"Better safe than sorry," Jayden said.

"Okay, I'll rest up for half an hour." Emily compromised.

"Good, I'll check on you then." Mia volunteered.

Half an hour later Emily got out of bed and as soon as she left her room she bumped into Mia. "I said half an hour and I meant it." Emily said. "I feel totally fine."

"I know you do, but you're going to feel even better in a minute. Come on." Mia grabbed her wrist and dragged her around the mansion.

Emily gasped when she saw the birthday decorations. "Surprise!" Everyone yelled coming out of hiding and throwing confetti in the air.

"Were you surprised?" Antonio asked.

"Totally, I didn't think you guys even knew it was my birthday."

"Well we did and what's a birthday without a cake?" The boys moved revealing a yellow cake on the table behind them.

"Wow, you guys are the best."

"No Emily," Jayden disagreed. "_You're _the best. We're just so happy to see that you're really okay." Emily just smiled at Jayden and they shared a private moment just smiling at each other.

"Anyway," Mia started grabbing a knife. "Who wants cake?"

"Oh, you baked the cake," Emily said not wanting to sound rude or ungrateful.

"No," Mia sighed. "Sorry, we got the cake at the bakery."

"I understand, you were busy today."

"Make a wish and blow out your candles." Mike said eyeing the cake.

Emily thought for a few seconds about her wish. _"I wish Jayden and I didn't have to hide our relationship." _Emily thought before blowing out the candles.

A few hours later, Emily was in her room getting ready for bed when there was a knock on her door. "Emily, it's Jayden." Came her favorite voice from the other side of her door. "Can I come in?"

"Of course." Jayden entered the room and closed the door behind him. "What brings you here?"

"I wanted to talk to you about a few things."

"What is it?"

Jayden pulled her into a kiss and then held her in his arms. "I almost lost you today Emily and I never want to feel like that again." Jayden pulled away and cupped her face in his hands. "I promise, nothing like this will ever happen again. I'll do whatever it takes to protect you."

"I know you will."

"Almost losing you made me realize that there's nothing I wouldn't do for you. I almost became a nighlok today."

"Are you crazy? Why on earth would you become a nighlok?"

"To save the woman I love."

"What?" Emily gasped.

"I love you Emily."

Emily smiled brightly. "I love you too Jayden."

Jayden smiled back and kissed her again. "Now you know my secret,"

"Your secret is that you love me?"

Jayden nodded. "I hide it well. I wish we didn't have to keep our relationship a secret." Jayden sighed.

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**There you go, he finally revealed his secret (at least what I think it should it be)**


	10. Down for the Count

**I'd like to thank everyone for the great reviews**

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**Ch. 10 Down for the Count**

The samurai rangers were all gathered around the coffee table after an intense battle. As usual, Antonio was fishing, fishing is his way of relaxing after a fight. "I don't know what to do," Mia said taking a seat. "We've fought so hard but the sanzu river keeps seeping into our world."

"I can't believe this is happening." Mike said sitting next to Mia.

"What else can we do?" Emily asked taking the empty seat by Jayden. "We've beaten the nighlok every time."

Jayden looked at his secret girlfriend. "We can't think about winning or losing," He looked at the others. "We have to believe in ourselves and keep fighting."

Kevin sighed. "Jayden's right, we can't give up no matter what."

Ji walked in holding a book. "I'm glad to hear that." Everyone looked up at him. "I may have found something that can help us." He said showing the teens the book.

"The black box?" Jayden asked. "Ji we can't,"

"What is it?" Mia asked.

"A magic talisman, created by the very first red ranger. It is said it can unite the symbol powers of all the rangers into one."

"Okay cool so lets fire it up." Mike said looking up from the book.

"It's not as simple as that," Jayden interjected. "The red ranger never finished the talisman." He added.

"Many have tried, but none have had the skill and power to complete it."

"What about Antonio?" Emily asked. "He's a tech whiz."

Mike nodded in agreement. "Yeah, I mean the guy programed a zord like it was a coffee maker."

"But he doesn't have mastery of symbol power like we do." Kevin pointed out. "You know how much it drains us every time we use it."

"Kevin's right, trying to transfer even a few of our symbol powers into the box could destroy him. I can't ask him to do this."

Emily placed a hand on Jayden's arm. "Jayden, none of us want to see Antonio get hurt but-"

"We're talking about saving the human race." Mia interrupted.

"If he's willing, give him a shot." Mike added.

Jayden let everything they said sink in. "Okay," he said after a few seconds.

"First you must retrieve the black box." Ji said to the group. "For generations it has been protected by the guardians of the tengen gate."

The five teens left the mansion and Jayden led them on their way to the tengen gate. "This is the tengen gate?" Mike asked unimpressed. "It's just a big wood thing."

"The tengen gate in an important part of ranger history," Jayden said bowing before walking through the gate. The others followed in suit. They continued walking until they reached a garden-like area. "This commemorates where the first samurai rangers battled the nighlok army." Jayden said stopping by a rock that had the samurai symbol carved in it.

"They say the sanzu river flooded the entire city," Emily said.

"What happened?" Mike asked.

"The rangers defeated them because they never gave up." Kevin answered. He looked at Mike. "And they took their training seriously."

"They certainly did." A voice said. The rangers looked over and saw an elderly man. "Although the legend tells us that the green ranger was a bit of a prankster."

"No way," Mike said as Emily giggled.

"Apparently he drove the blue ranger crazy but they were still the best of friends. I am Daisuki, the elder guardian." He said introducing himself. The five rangers bowed in respect. "Welcome to the tengen gate. Your mentor advised us that you would come, please." Daisuki gestured for them to walk inside.

The rangers started heading inside but Emily noticed Jayden didn't make a move to head inside. "Are you okay Jayden?"

"Yeah, you go on inside. I'll be there in a minute." He said with a reassuring smile.

"Okay," Emily nodded and headed inside.

"A penny for your thoughts Jayden," Daisuki said sensing Jayden's uneasiness.

"It's nothing,"

"You care about her don't you? The yellow samurai,"

"How'd you know?"

"The way you look at her says it all. Does she know how you feel?"

"She does, it's our own secret and we both hate lying to everyone."

"Right, your mentor forbids you from pursuing romantic relationships."

"Yeah, which only makes the lying worse."

"If you knew your mentor's rule, then why did you break it?"

"Call me selfish but I had to choose between a broken heart and a broken rule."

"Lets go find your friends." Jayden nodded and followed Daisuki inside where the others were looking at pictures on a wall. "It's an old folk tale. A young woman made a deal with the nighlok king to save the life of her beloved. But the king tricked her and turned them both into nighlok."

"Sure sounds like something a nighlok would do." Kevin said.

"The king took away the man's memory and cursed him to wander the earth alone forever."

"It's strange," Mia said examining the images. "It's almost like I met this woman before."

"Come, gather around." Everyone sat in a circle on the floor. Daisuki lifted the lid off a box revealing the black box inside. "The black box. The most powerful samurai weapon ever conceived. Few even know about its existence."

Jayden lifted the black box and held it in his hands. "Thank you Daisuki, I shall protect it with my life."

"I hope your friend can program it. With each passing day the nighlok presence grows stronger." While someone was pouring tea for everyone, nobody noticed a nighlok poison the drinks. "I feel that soon even this sacred place will be corrupted by their evil." The rangers were served their tea. "Now, let us drink tea together." They all reached for their cups. To honor the ancient rangers and for good fortune in battle." Daisuki toasted.

Jayden was the first to take a drink after the toast. With one sip he dropped his cup and fell over clutching his throat. "Jayden!" Emily gasped hurrying to his side.

"The drink!" He choked out. "It's poisoned!"

"Daisuki!" Another man ran in in a panic. "There are nighlok in the garden!"

"We can't leave Jayden," Emily insisted.

"Don't worry about me, go, hurry!" He ordered.

The four ran out ready to fight the nighlok. The nighlok looked like a giant spider and it wasted no time attacking alongside a gang of moogers. Mia had called Antonio for backup and soon they led their enemies away from the tengen gate and into the forest. Meanwhile, Daisuki was doing everything he could to help Jayden.

"Seriously?" They looked up and saw Octeroo on the other side of the room. "You're going to fight _my _black magic potion with dried mushrooms?"

Daisuki stood up and got between Octeroo and Jayden. "Foolish nighlok! Your forces were defeated here once before and you shall be again."

"You want a piece of me too?" Octeroo asked.

"Wait! It's me you want, let the guardians go." Jayden bargained.

"Fine by me, I just need one thing from you. You're going to show me the symbol you red rangers use to seal away Master Xandred."

Back in the forest, the others were struggling against the nighlok. It got to the point where Mia and Mike demorphed from the amount of damage they took. "Mike! Mia!" Emily rushed to their side.

"Time for the big finish," The nighlok said approaching the three when he was suddenly hit with two blasts.

"Not so fast nighlok!"

"Antonio you found us!"

"Anyone who hurts my friends has to answer to me!"

"I don't know who you are human, but you just made a big mistake."

Kevin and Emily grabbed hold of the nighlok by its arms. "Antonio go help Jayden!"

"Okay, but I'll be back!" Antonio took off running towards the tengen gate.

Too weak to walk, Jayden was crawling around the garden to get away. "It's a simple question red ranger," Octeroo said from behind Jayden. "Just show me the sealing symbol, I'll give you the antidote and it'll save us both a lot of grief." Octeroo didn't realize that Deker was watching the two.

Jayden rolled onto his back to look at Octeroo. "Never!"

"That's how you want to play it?"

Antonio ran around the corner. "The man said no!" Antonio morphed and went to attack Octeroo with his barracuda blades.

"Who invited you? This is a private conversation." The two began fighting, neither noticing Jayden pass out.

"You two can stop now," Octeroo and Antonio stopped and saw Deker standing above Jayden.

"Deker? What are you doing here?" Octeroo asked.

"Relax, I'll take care of the red ranger from here." He said picking up Jayden and throwing him over his shoulder.

"What? No!" Deker took off before Antonio could do anything. "Come back with my friend!"

"Deker spoils everything," Octeroo pouted. "I'm outta here,"

"Come back!" Antonio shouted. "Jayden, I failed you. Wait, what about the others?" Antonio ran back to the forest and found the others unconscious on the ground. "What am I supposed to do now?"

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**Darn these cliffhangers, in all seriously I'm leaving tomorrow to go back to school (it's actually Job Corps) & as I mentioned in an earlier chapter there's no more wi-fi there so my updates will be randomly done, I don't always have an opportunity to go into town & use up a store's wi-fi. In a way it's a good thing, I'm not finished with the story & I've only seen like three episodes of Super Samurai (don't get to watch much TV there either)**


	11. Antonio's Mission

**Feels good to update again, I'm sorry it took so long. It's hard to find time to do this, I have to go to the local Safeway to get online & if I'm lucky I find the time at least once a week. Thanks again for the great reviews.**

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**Ch. 11 Antonio's Mission**

Antonio and Ji just left the infirmary where the four others were resting. "They're pretty banged up aren't' they?"

"Yes, now that the sanzu river is seeping into our world the nighlok are getting stronger. Soon they will be too powerful for even our team to stop. It's crucial that you fill this black box with everyone symbol power."

"Once we rescue Jayden he and I will get it running in no time."

"Antonio, you must focus on the job at hand."

"But Jayden's out there." Antonio argued.

"Jayden will be the first to tell you, the black box is the priority."

Antonio took the box and opened it. "But even the original red ranger couldn't finish this."

"The lack of formal symbol training will make this very difficult but you did build your own samurai morpher."

Deker was walking through a river with Jayden still over his shoulder. "Rescuing you has become a bit of a bad habit." Deker said. "But one I intend to see break permenantly." He dropped Jayden into the water waking him up. "Stay under," Deker said when Jayden surfaced. "The water will purge the water from your system." Jayden looked doubtful. "Just do as I say, trust me there's nothing I want more than you in top form. The sooner you recover, the sooner I'll be able to duel you and finally bring you down." Jayden did as Deker said. Later on Deker and Jayden were in a cave on the beach. Deker was sitting in front of a fire, across from him Jayden was lying down. "The purity of the lake has healed you but you'll still be weak for a while."

Jayden struggled to sit up against a rock. "Why are you doing all this?" Jayden asked.

"I'm searching for the ultimate duel." Deker answered. "The duel that you and I will have."

"I don't fight just to fight. I fight to protect people."

"Well we'll see. We're patient, my sword and I. But eventually we will battle. I have quite the extensive to convince you. After all, I was once fully human. All I know now is constant craving for battle. The nighlok in me gives me no choice about it.

"You always have a choice, you don't have to give into the nighlok's craving."

"That's easy for you to say, you didn't give yourself to the darkness when you had the chance."

"I almost did."

"But you didn't,"

"Doing the right thing is always worth the effort no matter how hard it is. That's why I won't fight just to fight."

"You _will _give me the ultimate battle!" Deker said threateningly. "Whether you like it or not. It's the only way I'll be free from this terrible curse."

Back at the mansion, the four samurai were healed enough to walk around. They knew lying in bed did them no good to Jayden or Antonio. They had good timing because the gap sensor went off just as they told Ji they were going to help Antonio. "You guys take care of the nighlok, I'll go look for Jayden." Antonio said.

"You must finish the black box first," Ji said.

"I can't, I need their power disks and they're taking them into battle." Antonio argued.

Emily walked up to Antonio and gave him her disk. "Here, it's all yours." The others handed Antonio their disks as well.

"Are you guys serious? How could you possibly defeat the nighlok without these?"

"We'll make do," Emily said. "But without the black box the whole world is in danger. You're the only one that can program it,"

"Thanks for having faith in me guys, go on." Kevin, Mike and Mia started to head out.

"I know this is hard for you Antonio but you know Jayden would want you to work on this. He's always saying one person is insignificant compared to the fate of the world."

"You're really worried about him aren't you?"

"I always am," Emily sighed.

"I promise I'll bring him back to us safe." Emily smiled and ran out to catch up with the others.

After a while Antonio successfully transferred the dragon symbol into the black box. His hopes diminished when he failed with Emily's disk. He was feeling too much pressure and didn't have enough energy to continue on his own. An idea struck him and he used a satellite to try to find Jayden's samuraizer.

"I found him! Look Ji, I can't finish the black box now but I can help Jayden."

"Go," Ji said after a second.

Back at the cave, Deker stood before Jayden with his sword in hand. "You should be fully recovered by now."

Jayden stood up and faced Deker. "Why do you want to fight me? There are plenty of good warriors in the world." Neither noticed that Antonio was standing at the mouth of the cave behind a rock listening in on the conversation.

"Yes but like me you have a secret festering inside you that you're hiding from everyone. We're both warped and twisted,"

"What do you mean by that?"

"You would've sacrificed everything before giving Octeroo the sealing power. There's a spirit inside you I've never seen any other samurai. A warrior spirit, and that's why you're the perfect opponent."

"I'm not going to fight you just to fight."

"Would you fight if your love's life was on the line?"

Jayden glared at Deker. "Stay away from her!"

"_His love? Jayden's got a girlfriend?" _Antonio thought not believing his ears.

"I asked you before how much you would sacrifice to save the one you love, you were going to become a nighlok to save her, now you'll have to save her _from _one."

"Touch Emily and I swear I'll tear you apart," Jayden threatened.

"_Emily?" _Antonio thought. _"They're together?"_

"Then fight me!" Deker shifted into his nighlok form ready to fight and Jayden had his spin sword in hand.

"Hold it!" Antonio jumped out of hiding and stood between the two. "This isn't happening on my watch, Jayden you're in no shape to fight."

"Stay out of this gold ranger,"

"How could you want to fight him like this? Is there really any honor fighting a man when he isn't at his strongest?"

Deker growled. "Go, but know this red ranger, the next time we meet we _will _duel."

"Lets go Jayden," Jayden and Antonio left the cave and helped the others defeat the attacking nighlok.

After the battle Jayden sat on a bench in the training area thinking about everything that had happened throughout the day. Now instead of worrying about when Deker plans to have their duel he had to worry about Deker kidnapping Emily and forcing him into a duel he wanted no part in.

"Jayden," Jayden turned around and saw Antonio walking towards him.

"Hey Antonio, thanks for saving me,"

"No problem buddy. You know, I heard what Deker said to you."

"What do you mean?"

"He threatened Emily's life if you didn't fight him. He called her your 'love'." Jayden avoided eye contact. "Is it true? Are you and Emily together?"

"We are but you can't tell anyone, especially Ji."

"No problem,"

"We didn't want anyone to know about us but I've got to admit it's a load off my shoulders letting someone in on the secret."

"I'll do what I can to help you guys sneak around."

"We've actually gotten pretty good at it the last two months seeing as nobody's suspected a thing so far."

"Yeah, but how long do you think you can keep it up?"

"I don't know. I'm really worried Deker will announce it to everyone the next time the team crosses paths with him."

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**Find out what happens next week (hopefully)**


	12. Broken Dreams

**I'd like to apologize for the extended delay of my story, I have to go to the local Safeway to use internet & it's really bad there as well as slow. Then my word processor somehow got corrupted and I couldn't work on **_**any**_** of my stories and I needed an internet connection to repair my word processor which I finally did now that I'm home for the next three weeks for my summer break.**

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**Ch. 12 Broken Dreams**

Everyone but Antonio and Mia were practicing outside when suddenly Jayden stopped, he couldn't stop thinking about what happened the previous week with Deker. "Dude, you just stopped, it's like you were a million miles away. You okay?" Mike asked.

"It's nothing," Jayden lied.

"I think being kidnapped by Deker has really gotten to you," Kevin said.

"You can talk to us Jayden," Emily started. "We're here for you."

"Hey guys," Mia greeted coming outside.

"Have you finally decided to join us for practice?" Kevin asked.

"No, I told mentor I'm cooking dinner tonight."

"Oh no!" Kevin gasped. "I mean, what's the special occasion."

"Antonio's been working so hard on that black box. I want to do something special for him." She started walking off. "Hope you're hungry."

Jayden walked inside without saying anything. "Bummer for Jayden." Mike said. "First he's poisoned and now this,"

Emily slapped Mike's shoulder. "Be nice," She scolded before going after Jayden. "Jayden what's wrong?" Emily asked.

"What makes you think something's wrong?"

"Because I know you, I know when something is bothering you."

Jayden sighed. "Well you know Deker wants some duel with me, he knows about us and he said if I don't fight him then he'll come after you to get to me. I promised you I'd do whatever it takes to protect you and I don't plan on breaking that promise." Before Emily could say anything the gap sensor went off. "We better go," The rangers ran into town and found Mia trying to hold off Dayu and a nighlok bearing a resemblance to a rhino. They didn't waste any time jumping into battle.

Mia saw Dayu take off with an unconscious guitar player. "Dayu stop!" She called going after her.

"Mia!" Emily called after her.

"Emily watch out!" Emily turned just as Jayden pushed her to the ground avoiding smoke the nighlok aimed at her. "You okay?"

"Yeah, thanks."

"No problem, go help Mia."

"You got it," Emily ran off after Mia and Dayu.

"Oh no she doesn't, I've got a bone to pick with Dayu." Rhinosnorous ran off after Dayu and the female samurai.

"Come back!" Jayden called after him.

"Lets follow him," Kevin suggested.

"Right," They ran after Rhinosnorous until they got to the forest where the girls were fighting with Dayu.

"Nighty night ladies," Rhinosnorous aimed at the three and sprayed them with knockout gas. "Pleasant dreams, but not for you Dayu."

"Emily! Mia!" Jayden called out as the boys caught up. "What did you do to them?" Jayden demanded.

"I simply put them to sleep and they won't wake up until I say so. The more they dream the tastier a snack they'll be."

"You really think we'll let that happen?"

"Of course not, I eat my grub in the dream world. I'm going to let them marinate for a while." A portal appeared above the guitar player and Rhinosnorous jumped into it disappearing.

"An intra-dimensional portal."

"What do we do now?" Kevin asked as they demorphed.

"I'm calling Ji, maybe he can dig up some information about this nighlok." Jayden said pulling out his samuraizer.

"Jayden, is something the matter?" Ji asked on the other end.

"Yeah, this nighlok looked like a rhino and he made people fall asleep with some kind of knockout gas."

"I have heard of that nighlok, his name is Rhinosnorous. He puts his victims to sleep and enters into their dreams. His victims then experience vivid fantasies, usually happy ones. Once devoured, his victims never wake up in the real world again. You must locate him before he starts devouring his victims."

"We're on it Ji," Jayden hung up and looked at Kevin and Mike.

"What's the deal?" Mike asked.

"We have to enter the dream world."

"How are we gonna do that?" Kevin asked.

"I'll use my symbol power, I'm not sure how much energy it'll take." Jayden said kneeling down by Emily. "but I can do it."

"I hope you're right,"

Jayden stood up and opened his samuraizer. "I doubt I'll be able to keep the portal open for very long. Jump in as soon as it materializes." He ordered. "I'll be right behind you."

"Got it,"

Jayden concentrated and then started the symbol. "Symbol power portal!" It took a long time but eventually a portal appeared and Kevin and Mike jumped in. The portal disappeared before Jayden could follow and he fell to his knees drained of energy. "I hope they can save you Emily."

(Emily's dream)

Kevin and Mike found themselves in a familiar place. They were in the same place they staged their weddings. They saw Emily wearing a wedding dress sitting at a vanity mirror with a blonde girl they didn't recognize "You look so beautiful Emily." The girl said.

"Thanks Serena, and thanks again for helping me with my hair and makeup."

"No problem little sister, I am a beautician after all."

"Sister?" Kevin asked. "She never mentioned having a sister."

"An _older _sister. And I wonder who the groom is."

"Hey guys, I didn't see you there." Emily said acknowledging their presence.

"Emily, what's going on? Who's she and why are you wearing a wedding dress?"

Emily giggled. "Very funny Mike. So have you guys seen Jayden? Is he just as nervous as I am?"

"Jayden?"

"Shouldn't you guys be dressed in your tuxes. Are you trying to ruin my wedding day?"

"Emily this isn't real, this is just a dream." Mike said.

"More like a dream come true. I've been waiting to marry Jayden since the day we started dating."

"What?" They said at the same time. They heard people screaming and ran outside. "It's him again!"

"Go go samurai!" They called together morphing.

In the real world a weakened Jayden saw Kevin, Mike and Rhinosnorous exit the portal. "Guys!"

Kevin and Mike slashed at Rhinosnorous together and sliced off his mist blower. "No! Now all my victims will wake up," Rhinosnorous whined.

Emily stirred awake. "What happened to my dress?"

"Emily," Jayden said weakly.

"Jayden, what happened?"

"You were trapped in the dream world, Kevin and Mike went in to save you."

"Yeah, they were there." Emily's eyes widened. "Jayden, I kind of may have given away our secret."

"What?"

"I was dreaming that we were getting married."

"We'll talk about it later, for now you should help the others."

Emily helped Mia wake up and they jumped into battle. Jayden stayed hidden so Rhinosnorous and the moogers wouldn't find him and attack. Unfortunately Deker found him. "Now's not a good time Deker, go away."

"Now is an excellent time to duel, you're alone."

"And exhausted, you said you wanted to fight me in my top form."

"Fine, I'll give you twenty four hours but there will be no further delay."

"I told you I won't fight for fighting sake. I only fight to protect the innocent."

"If you don't show then I doubt I'll be able to control myself."

"What's that mean?"

Deker looked at the other rangers. "It means that I'll come after your precious yellow ranger and her pain will be your fault not mine."

Jayden looked at Emily. "Then you leave me no choice." He looked back at Deker. "I'll fight you and I _will _defeat you."

"Then meet me at noon tomorrow by the sea."

"Fine,"

"It's almost pathetic that I had to threaten your beloved's life to get you to fight."

"It _is _pathetic that you have to threaten her life to get to me." Deker didn't say anything else and disappeared.

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**Dun dun dun…please review because I love the feedback**


	13. Truth Comes Out

**Thanks for the reviews everybody, I'm still working on the next few chapters (remember my word processor wasn't working for a while) In this chapter the rest of the team finds out about the secret couple**

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**Ch. 13 The Truth Comes Out**

The rangers were all back at the mansion. Nobody mentioned to Ji about the dreams Emily and Mia had. Kevin and Mike were still wondering about Emily's dream. "So what did you dream about Mia?" Emily asked curious.

"It started out with me setting a beautiful table for a great feast I cooked. Then it changed, I was somehow in Dayu's dream."

"Dayu's dream? What was it about?"

"It was a memory. She and Deker were married."

"They were married?" Kevin asked in disbelief.

"They were both human once, that folk tale we saw on the wall at the tengen gate, it was about them. Their house caught fire and Deker was dying. She gave herself up to the nighlok to save him not knowing it'd erase his memories."

"Wow, I never thought I'd feel bad for Dayu and Deker." Emily said. "I can only imagine how much it pains her to live stuck as a nighlok and her husband has no memory of her."

"Speaking of husbands, do you think you can explain what was up with your dream Emily?" Mike asked.

"Um…" Emily didn't want to tell everyone about her and Jayden but knew they had to find out sooner or later.

"What was it?" Mia asked.

"You might as well tell her Emily, at this point she's the only one besides Ji that doesn't know." Jayden said.

"Okay, I dreamt it was my wedding day."

"That's good, who was the groom? Was it that guy you told me about?" Mia asked excitedly.

"Yeah, it was. I didn't see him though but I mentioned him. Mike and Kevin were groomsmen."

"What about Jayden? Wouldn't he be one if they were?"

"Jayden was the groom." Mike answered for Emily.

"What?" Mia asked in disbelief. "Are you serious? Jayden's the guy you were crushing on?"

"I am, and we might as well tell you guys that we've been together the last two and a half months." Jayden confessed.

"How'd we not notice this?" Kevin asked.

"We've gotten pretty good at sneaking around." Emily answered.

"You guys are in so much trouble if Ji finds out."

"Are you going to tell on us Kevin?" Jayden asked.

"Well no…but it's against the rules, it's wrong and you know it." Kevin argued.

Jayden shook his head. "No, it's the rule that's wrong. Emily and I are right."

"I never thought Emily was the girl you asked advice on." Mike said still trying to recover from the shock. "Wait, who was the other girl? I think you called her Selena, no…it was Serena. She called you little sister."

Emily sighed. "Serena is my older sister, she's the true yellow samurai. When I was younger she started getting sick and over the following weeks she didn't get better. So my mother started training me in case Serena was still sick when the time came for the samurai to be needed. She is getting a little better but the doctors don't know when she'll fully recover."

Jayden held Emily close when it looked like she was going to start crying. "There's something else we need to discuss." He said trying to change the subject.

"What is it?" Kevin asked.

"Deker's challenged me to a duel."

"He's been challenging you for a while now Jayden," Antonio said. "It's not exactly anything new."

"This time it's real, I have to meet him at noon tomorrow."

"Jayden it's crazy," Kevin said. "Take on Deker alone?"

"Deker insists that's how it has to be,"

"You can't do this Jayden," Kevin continued. "A samurai only fights battles that are necessary."

"This _is _necessary, if I don't do this then Deker will come after Emily."

"Me? Why me?" Emily asked.

"He's known about us for a while now. I told you he'd use you to get to me."

"So I'm your weak spot?" She asked obviously hurt.

"No, he just knows where to hit me where it hurts." Jayden grabbed her hand. "You make me stronger, not weaker."

"We should fight Deker like any other nighlok, as a _team_," Kevin spoke up again.

Jayden stood up. "Kevin you don't get it, if I don't fight him alone it won't satisfy him."

"Since when do we let a nighlok dictate how we battle?" Kevin asked raising his voice.

"Deker won't stop until Jayden duels him," Emily said. "We have to let him go alone."

"How can you say that?" Kevin asked the yellow samurai. "Jayden's not just our leader but he's the only one that can perform the sealing symbol." Kevin looked back at Jayden. "You're the key to stopping the nighlok."

"Kevin's right," Mike agreed. "we shouldn't risk it."

"I'm going and that's final,"

"But Jay-" Kevin started.

"This discussion is over," Jayden said walking away.

Later that night, Jayden stayed up late practicing his sword skills when Kevin walked in. "Jayden, how can I talk you out of fighting Deker?"

"You can't. I told you, he'll come after Emily if I don't. He knows I would do anything for her."

"You must really care about her."

"I love her Kevin, I'd willingly give my life to save hers the same way Dayu apparently did for Deker. I was going to on her birthday remember?"

Kevin sighed. "Then your mind's all made up then."

"You can help me get ready though, I've got some new moves I want to perfect."

Kevin sighed. "Fine,"

After an hour, Jayden decided to call it a night and headed to his room. He was surprised to find Emily sleeping in his bed. He quickly changed into his pajamas and walked over to the bed and gently shook her shoulder. "Emily," Jayden whispered.

Emily stirred and her eyes fluttered open. "Jayden,"

"What are you doing in here?"

"I'm really scared for you and being close to you helps me feel better."

"I know you're worried about tomorrow but I have to do this to keep you safe."

"I know, do I have to go to my room?" Emily asked hoping he'd let her stay.

"No, you can stay." Jayden crawled into bed and wrapped his arms around Emily's waist. "I love you Emily." He whispered.

"I love you too." Jayden kissed her and they drifted off to sleep.

Early the next morning the young couple woke up and Emily snuck back to her room. She didn't want to risk Ji walking into Jayden's room and see her sleeping in his bed. It was a silent breakfast and for the rest of the morning Jayden mentally prepared himself for his fight with Deker. Everyone made sure to leave Jayden alone, he didn't need any distractions or people trying to talk him out of the fight.

Jayden was sitting in his room when Emily walked in. "It's almost noon, you should get going."

Jayden sighed and hugged Emily who was struggling to hold in tears. "I know you don't want me to go but I'm doing this for you,"

"I know, it's really low of Deker to use me to get to you."

"I know, but this is something we knew we'd have to deal with. Ji told us that if the wrong people knew about our relationships then they'd use them to get to us."

"Right," Emily kissed Jayden with all the love she felt for him. "please come back to me,"

"I promise," Jayden hugged her tighter and headed for the front door where he bumped into Kevin. "Take care of her."

"Only until you come back." Kevin said trying to sound optimistic.

Jayden nodded and left the mansion. "Did he go?" Emily asked walking towards Kevin.

"He did, but don't worry, he'll be back. It's Jayden we're talking about, he's never lost a battle and he's not gonna start today."

"I hope you're right." Emily sighed looking out the window watching Jayden walk away.

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**Hope you guys liked this chapter, I'll get right on the next few chapters, still not sure how I want the story to turn out**


	14. Long Night

**Thanks for the great reviews everyone and I'd like to apologize in advance for this short chapter but I swear I'll update again tomorrow :)**

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**Ch. 14: A Long Night**

**Seriously I think by now y'all have figured out I can't really write fight sequences so I'm not going to describe what happened during Deker & Jayden's duel.**

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Hours went by with no word from Jayden. Everyone was starting to worry and thought maybe he was defeated. Emily couldn't stand waiting around for Jayden to come back and went to sit outside. She needed fresh air and looking at the stars always helped relax her. She sat on the steps and looked up at the sky. She started playing with the locket Jayden gave her for her birthday.

"You've been gone all day," She said out loud. "Please be okay Jayden," She looked up when she heard the gate open.

"Who's there?" She called when she saw a figure limping its way towards her. When the figure stepped into the moonlight she saw it was Jayden. "Jayden!" She stood up and ran to him throwing her arms around him. Jayden groaned in pain when Emily hugged him and she instantly pulled away. "I'm sorry, I didn't realize how hurt you are."

"I don't care, it was all worth it to hold you in my arms again."

"As sweet as that was, how hurt are you?"

"It's mostly cuts and bruises, but my wrist is a different story."

"What happened?"

"It doesn't matter, all that matters is that Deker's gone."

"I'm so glad to hear that," Emily lowered her head. "I was so scared that I might have lost you."

Jayden put his hand under her chin making her look up at him. "I promised you I'd come back to you."

"We should head inside and take a look at your wrist." Jayden nodded and let Emily help him make his way inside. "What time is it?" Jayden asked when he saw all the lights were off.

"It's almost eleven, we've all been so worried."

"I know," In the infirmary, Jayden sat on one of the beds while Emily wrapped up his wrist.

"I don't think it's broken,"

"I think it's just a sprain." Jayden looked at Emily and saw her starting to cry. "Why are you crying?"

"I don't know, I guess I'm just happy that you're back and we don't have to worry about Deker taking you away from me anymore."

"Come here," Jayden grabbed Emily's hand & pulled her closer. "You never have to worry about Deker, or Xandred, or anybody else taking me away from you." Emily smiled and Jayden kissed her forehead.

"Can I stay with you in your room again tonight?"

"Of course," They walked to Jayden's room and laid down on the bed facing each other. "I'm sorry for scaring you today." Jayden said covering them with his blanket. "But I had to do it to keep you safe."

"I knew what I was getting myself into when we got together. I knew you'd be the biggest target and I'd have to live with it." Emily leaned forward the few inches and kissed him on the lips. "We're in this together Jayden."

"I like the sound of that." Jayden kissed her and they closed their eyes drifting off to sleep.

Ji was walking down the hall worried about Jayden. He knew Jayden was strong but Deker was among the strongest nighlok they've ever come across. He headed towards Jayden's room in hopes of seeing him sleeping in his bed exhausted from the battle of his life. He opened the door quietly so not to wake him if he was sleeping, he didn't expect to see Emily sleeping in his bed with him.

"What is going on here?" Ji yelled waking the sleeping teens.

"Mentor!" They gasped.

"You two want to explain yourselves?"

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**Sorry again for the short chapter, the other rangers seem to be okay with the relationship but Ji is the one that they had to worry about the most…**


	15. Coming Clean

**As promised in the last chapter, here's the next chapter a day later, seriously it's like 12:30 AM while I'm editing this right now. Thanks to everyone who's been reviewing, love the feedback**

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**Ch. 15 Coming Clean**

Jayden and Emily were scared speechless. Ji had caught Emily sleeping in Jayden's bed with him in it. "You two in the living room now!" Ji ordered.

Jayden and Emily got out of bed scared of what Ji was going to do. "This is really bad," Emily said stating the obvious.

"I know…" Jayden sighed. "I can't remember ever seeing Ji so mad."

"Well it's not like we were doing anything, I mean we were sleeping fully clothed."

"Doesn't matter, all Ji saw was that we were sleeping in the same bed and that's bad enough."

"We might as well face the music,"

"Right," They headed to the living room together where Ji was fuming mad. "Morning Ji," Jayden said fearfully.

"You want to explain to me why you two were sleeping in the same bed?"

"Uh…" Emily looked at Jayden and he nodded knowing what she was thinking. Emily took a deep breath and looked at Ji. "I'm sorry to say that we've broken your rules."

"Is that so?" He asked crossing his arms.

"Yes," Jayden said. "We've snuck out past curfew many times,"

"And we've been dating for two and a half months." Emily added.

"I've never been so disappointed in you Jayden."

"I know you said you didn't want any of us dating," Jayden entwined his fingers with Emily's. "but this was meant to happen."

"You two need to break this off right now, relationships are distracting,"

"Have you noticed either one of us being distracted in a battle?" Jayden countered.

"On a few occasions yes."

"We're sorry for that but we're not sorry for breaking the rule. It was a rule meant to be broken."

"Really Ji, we may be rangers but we're teenagers first." Emily said in an attempt to defend herself and Jayden.

The others walked into the living room on their way to the kitchen when they saw Ji talking with Emily and Jayden. "What's going on?" Antonio asked.

Ji looked at the other four. "It appears that these two have been hiding a relationship for nearly three months." The four pretended to be surprised. "You already knew?" He asked seeing through the pseudo gasps.

"Don't be mad at them Ji," Jayden pleaded. "Antonio's only known for a week, the others only two days."

"You all should have told me,"

"We promised them we wouldn't tell you," Mike said.

"You still should've told me,"

"Why? So you could yell at them? Make them feel like what they're doing is the worst thing in the world?" Ji turned back to Jayden and Emily but saw that they were gone.

Jayden and Emily were sitting on a bench in the park. "Do you think Ji will ever cool off?" Emily asked.

Jayden shrugged. "Not unless Kevin uses his water symbol power on him but it may evaporate before it reaches him. He told me about the rule when I was thirteen, but he never explained why it was a rule. I first thought it was a rule for the same reason we have to keep the samurai business a secret but I think there's more to it than that."

"You think Ji's hiding something about the rule?"

"I'm not sure what to think. It can't be as simple as the person being in danger or us being distracted, but what other reason would he have to keep us from being together?"

"What if it's because of the fact that this is a family gig and we shouldn't be mixing the bloodlines?"

"You think?"

"If that's the real reason he didn't want us to date each other then we really don't have a problem."

"What do you mean?"

"Well…your sister's supposed to be here so it's really not that big a deal, I mean, she'll get better and you said when she does you're giving her the samuraizer."

"Yeah,"

"And I wasn't completely honest when I told you my secret was that I loved you."

Emily gave Jayden a confused look. _"He tells me everything, what could he be hiding?" _Emily wondered."What do you mean?"

"Hello rangers," A familiar voice said.

They looked up and Jayden stood in front of Emily protectively. "Deker! What are you doing here? I defeated you yesterday."

"You did, and I wanted to thank you."

"Thank me?"

"When you defeated me in the ultimate duel, you freed me from my curse."

"And mine," A young beautiful woman came over and wrapped her arms around Deker.

"Who are you?" Emily asked.

"Dayu,"

"Dayu?" Emily and Jayden said at the same time.

"Thank you red ranger for giving us our lives back."

"You're welcome," Jayden said still trying to recover from the shock.

"We should leave them alone now Deker,"

Deker nodded in agreement. "Goodbye rangers,"

"Goodbye," Emily waved as they walked off. "So Jayden, what were you going to say?"

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**Oh no cliffhangers! I'd like to say that originally Jayden's secret was how much he loved Emily, but lately I've been thinking, 'that's not dynamic enough', please review because y'all know you want to and I really love hearing what y'all have to say**


	16. The Real Secret

**The last chapter got lots of reviews, from members and guests, thanks guys. Now it's time to learn the real secret Jayden keeps, FYI, at a point in the chapter Antonio contacts Jayden on his samuraizer and Antonio's dialog then will be in italics. Enjoy the chapter!**

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**Ch. 16 The Real Secret**

"So Jayden, what were you going to say?" Emily asked.

"I was going to say that technically it's not my ancestral bloodline tied to my samuraizer."

Emily looked confused. "What do you mean?"

"I mean that my dad isn't my father."

Emily was even more confused. "What do you mean he's not your father?"

"My real father died in a car accident when I was three." Jayden said starting his story. "Steven was my father's best friend and my godfather so he helped my mom out. After a few months they got married. I may have only been three at the time but I remember my father & Steven isn't it. My last name isn't Shiba, it's Heartman."

"Jayden Travis Heartman, it's got a nice ring to it."

"When I was little my mother would sometimes call me JT,"

"So you're just like me, you became a samurai ranger by chance."

Jayden nodded. "Yeah,"

"So if your dad ever had a kid they'd come take your place?"

Jayden shook his head. "We keep in contact, he writes me once or twice a month. He recently broke up with a woman named Valerie because he's scared of getting too close. He said he lost two women he loved and he's scared of losing another one."

"So your mother wasn't his first love?"

"Guess not, he also can't have kids so I don't have to worry about being replaced."

"Does Ji know about this?"

"I don't think my dad told him and you're the only one I've told."

"Thank you for trusting me with this secret. Is there anything else I should know about you?"

"Um…when I was a kid I hated training."

Emily's eyes bulged out. "No way! _You_ hated training? It was all you ever did until I got sick that time."

"Well think about it. I had just lost my mother and only two days after her funeral my dad leaves me with Ji. My life was dedicated to working hard, I didn't really get a chance to live, until I met you."

Emily giggled. "That's such a cheesy thing to say Jayden."

"I know but it's true." Jayden's samuraizer started beeping. "It's probably Ji wondering where we went."

"Then maybe we shouldn't answer it."

"I should at least tell him we won't be back for a while." Jayden opened his samuraizer and brought it to his ear. "This is Jayden,"

"_Jayden, where are you guys?"_ Antonio asked. _"You've been gone for hours."_

"I can't tell you Antonio, but you might as well let Ji know that we're not coming back any time soon."

"_What are you guys gonna elope or something?"_

"No of course not, we're not near that stage of our relationship," Jayden saw Emily give him a confused look. "He asked if we ran away to elope." Emily smiled and shook her head. "I'm gonna hang up now Antonio,"

"_Wait! Before you hang up on me, I thought you should know that Ji called your father as soon as you guys were gone and told him the situation."_

"He did what?"

"_He was just here and he left to look for you. He didn't seem happy."_

Jayden let out a heavy sigh of frustration. "Thanks for the heads up Antonio."

"_No problem, hope you guys will be okay."_ Antonio said before hanging up.

"What's wrong?"

Jayden closed his samuraizer and pocketed it. "Antonio said that Ji called my dad and told him everything, he was just back at the mansion."

"Do you think he'll be on our side?"

"Antonio said he wasn't happy so I doubt it."

"So if we're not going back, what are we going to do?"

"We could get a motel for the night. My parents left money for me in the bank that I gained access to when I turned eighteen. I can withdraw one hundred dollars or so and that should be enough for a room and meals for the day."

"Guess we should get to the bank then." Jayden took hold of Emily's hand and together they walked to the bank. When they were close Jayden suddenly stopped in his tracks. "What's wrong Jayden? Why'd you stop?"

"Hello Jayden," A man said walking up to the couple.

"Dad…"

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**Okay I don't know the Japanese counterpart but I did my research and it said the fire samurai wasn't the actual heir so I thought I'd use it for my story, not sure if the show will use the same secret but whatever...**


	17. Does Dad Know Best?

**As always, thanks to everyone who's reviewed, I'm so glad everyone seems to like this story.**

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**Ch. 17 Does Dad Know Best?**

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"I was told something interesting from a call I wasn't expecting." Steven said to Jayden. He looked at Emily, "I take it you must be Emily."

"Yes, and I wish I was meeting you under better circumstances."

"Believe me young lady, there is no good circumstance where we would have met." He said in a stern voice.

"Dad! You don't have to be so rude to her!" Jayden snapped.

"You two need to break this up right now Jayden."

"No, we're not breaking up for breaking a rule that shouldn't even exist." Jayden argued.

"That rule exists for a reason and you're looking at it."

"What?"

"That rule about dating exists because of my team."

"You want to elaborate?"

"Not here," They reluctantly followed Jayden's father into the woods so they could talk privately.

"Okay I think we're far enough from town." Emily said trying to give attitude like he gave her earlier. "You wanna explain now?"

"To put it simply, it's actually your mother's fault that rule about dating team mates exists."

"My mother?" Emily asked.

"What does Emily's mother have to do with any of this dad?"

"Molly and I were dating when we were rangers." He confessed. "I really didn't expect you to follow in my footsteps and fall for _your_ yellow ranger."

"What happened between you and my mother?" Emily demanded.

Steven sat on a stump and let out a heavy sigh. "We started dating almost immediately after we met. We got to know each other really well and soon enough we fell in love."

"I can't believe you dated my girlfriend's mother." Jayden said still in a state of shock.

He nodded. "For the whole eight months we fought against Master Xandred."

"So then what happened?"

"She got pregnant," He said seething. "And I know it wasn't mine because I have a narrow urethra. It would have taken more than the one time for her to get pregnant."

"Are you saying my mom cheated on you?"

"Precisely, after I sealed away Xandred and we all went our separate ways I made sure to tell Ji that a new rule should prohibit team mates from dating, I told him specifically that the rule should strictly apply to my heir."

"So that's why we're not allowed to date? Because your team mate broke your heart?"

"I trusted her more than anybody and she betrayed me, if it was up to me your little girlfriend wouldn't even be on your team."

Jayden felt himself getting angrier by the second. "It's because of _you _that we met, you didn't have to leave me with Ji to take your place."

Steven stood up. "What was I supposed to do?" Emily watched as the two got in each other's faces. "I didn't have my own child and I figured my godson was just as good and I was right. You're a much better samurai than I ever was, and I like to think it's because you don't have a distraction like I did." He said glaring at Emily.

"Emily isn't a distraction!"

"Oh no? Have you been working on the sealing symbol? It takes a lot of power and energy, it nearly killed me and it didn't help that I was suffering a broken heart when I did it."

"And that's why we're here, because _you _weren't focused enough to perform the symbol correctly because _you _were distracted during your time as a samurai! You failed your mission and because of that _I _have to finish it for you!"

"Mr. Shiba, if it makes you feel even a little better I wasn't supposed to be a ranger."

"What are you talking about?"

"My sister is supposed to be on the team but she's really sick so I took her place."

"So you're not the baby Molly got pregnant with when she cheated on me?"

"No of course not. You were a samurai twenty years ago, I'm only seventeen."

"So then you're not even a true samurai?"

"Don't you talk that way to her!"

"It's true Jayden, she's nothing but a cheap replacement for her sister,"

Upon hearing him say that Emily started crying. "How can you say that?" Jayden held Emily close while she cried into his chest.

"Very easily."

"Nice to know how you really feel about me,"

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Emily wasn't first born so she wasn't technically born for this, but neither was I so how can you say she's a cheap replacement and not say I'm a cheap replacement for the son you could never have? At least being a samurai is in her blood."

"Mr. Shiba," Emily sniffled pulling away from Jayden's arms. "I'm sorry my mother hurt you but I love Jayden and that's not ever going to change."

"You can't punish us for Emily's mom breaking your heart."

"I'm not trying to punish you, I'm trying to save you."

"Save me? From what?" Jayden asked outraged.

"From heartache, if she's anything like her mother then she'll break your heart too and then you'll end up alone and scared to get close to anybody ever again like me."

"But you moved on after my mother," Emily argued.

"And look how that turned out," He snapped. "Jayden, if she breaks your heart then you'll never master the sealing symbol."

"And if we break up because you want us to, then he'll be broken hearted anyway and he still won't be able to master the symbol."

"Clearly we're not going to agree to anything so we might as well get out of here Emily." Jayden grabbed Emily's hand and glared at Steven. "If you can't support your son then you don't have a son."

"You can't be serious,"

"I am, you may have been distracted when you were a samurai but I'm not. If anything I've been getting stronger since we've been together." Steven stayed silent. "You need to forgive and forget because what happened between you and Emily's mother was twenty years ago, and if you can't do that then you can at least be supportive of us. You can't let your past control your future."

Steven sighed in defeat. "I suppose you're right son, I can't keep you from being happy or from your destiny."

"Destiny?"

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**What could Jayden's destiny be? You'll find out soon!**


	18. Sealing Symbol Secret

**Ch. 18 The Sealing Symbol Secret**

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"What do you mean keep me from my destiny?"

"Have you ever looked at Ji's books? More specifically the one that has the information on all the nighloks and symbols?"

"Yeah, so what?"

"Did you happen to notice that a page was torn out in the section describing the sealing symbol?"

"How do you know there's a page torn out?"

"Because I ripped it out."

"Why would you tear it out if it's so important?" Emily asked.

"I think it'd be best if we went to the mansion and I show you."

"It's back at the mansion?"

"I placed it in a box and hid it back at the mansion before I left all those years ago. You need that page to truly master the symbol."

"Then we should go, and maybe you can calm Ji down. He was furious with us."

"I think he'll be okay after hearing I've had to accept this relationship."

"So you're okay with us being together?" Emily asked hopeful.

"Not entirely but maybe in time, and besides, Jayden is my son and I have to support him in everything he does."

"Thanks dad,"

"I'm sorry for how I treated you Emily but I don't think you know what it's like to have your heart broken the way mine was."

"It's okay, I guess I can understand. Now lets go find that missing page."

The three headed back to the mansion and everyone was sitting in the living room. "You're back!" Antonio exclaimed when he saw his friends. "I see your dad found you."

"Yeah, where's Ji?" Jayden asked.

"I'm right here," Ji said walking into the living room. "Where have you two been?" He demanded.

"Ji it doesn't matter where they were. I told them the truth and there's something you should know about too involving the sealing symbol."

Ji gave Steven a confused look. "What do you mean?"

"Follow me," Everyone followed Steven to Jayden's room where he moved the bed from its spot.

"What are you doing dad?"

Steven ignored Jayden and kneeled on the floor where he picked up a loose floorboard. He reached inside and pulled out an old shoebox. "What's in here holds the true secret to the sealing symbol." He opened the box and pulled out the missing page.

"A piece of paper? That's the secret to sealing away Master Xandred?" Mike asked.

"I don't appreciate the sarcasm Michael." Steven said to him. He put the floorboard back and stood up. "It's a page missing from one of Ji's books. I hid it twenty years ago."

"Why would you do that?" Ji asked.

"The same reason why you agreed to the no dating rule."

"What's going on Mr. Shiba?" Kevin asked.

"To put it simply," Jayden started. "My dad and Emily's mom dated when they were rangers and it didn't work out. He created the rule that we couldn't date, each other especially because he didn't want me to go through what he did."

"Hold on, you dated Emily's mom?" Mia asked Steven.

"For eight months yes."

"Wow, like father like son I guess." Antonio commented. "So what's on the missing page?"

"Well for one it explains why the seal wasn't permanent." Jayden said looking the page over.

"What do you mean?"

"Like you all know, it takes a lot more power and energy than any other symbol to master. So much power and energy that it's too much for one person to handle. It needs to be done by two of us."

"Who and who?"

"Obviously me, but it says it has to be done with the combined power love. That's why it wasn't permanent when my dad did it, his heart was broken when he performed the symbol."

"So Emily has to perform the symbol too?"

"So it seems," Jayden looked at Emily. "Think you're up to the challenge?"

"If I've got you helping me I can do anything."

Jayden hugged Emily. "I love your newfound confidence."

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**Now everyone knows the truth, except the others not knowing about Jayden being adopted by his godfather**


	19. Questions Over Dinner

**Ch. 19 Questions Over Dinner**

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It had been a month since the truth about the dating rule and sealing symbol were discovered and despite the newfound pressure on Emily and Jayden, everything was going smoothly. Steven was still adjusting to the young couple but he had to admit he couldn't remember seeing Jayden so happy. He was worried about when he would have to see Molly again, he knew if Emily was going to be in Jayden's life then Molly would ultimately be involved in his.

"How's the symbol practice coming along?" Steven asked walking into the training area.

"We're getting there, it's taking a lot out of us every time we do it." Jayden replied.

"I know, it almost killed me but with the energy and power being divided between the two of you it should be a lot easier for you than it was for me."

"That and we've got the power of love on our side." Emily said wrapping her arms around Jayden's midsection.

Jayden smiled at Emily and wrapped an arm around her. "You've got that right," He said kissing her.

"Hey, I said I'll live with you two being together, that doesn't mean I need to see it."

"Sorry dad," Jayden apologized. "Can we stop now? We've been at this for an hour and we're getting exhausted."

"Not to mention hungry," Emily added.

"Fine, you can pick this up again in an hour."

"In an hour?" Jayden and Emily said at the same time.

"Is there a problem?"

"We are literally using all our energy to stay standing, we need time to recover dad."

"Yeah, plus we're still tired from our training this morning and afternoon, and the nighlok attack earlier, we worked through dinner too."

"Fine, you can pick this up again tomorrow. I'm pretty sure there's some leftover dinner in the oven."

"Thank you Mr. Shiba," Emily said as they headed inside.

"Hey Emily, did you ever tell your sister about my dad and your mom?" Jayden asked when they entered the kitchen.

"Yeah, she was really surprised and shocked. She's proud of us for not giving in and breaking up."

"Have either of you told your parents about me?"

Emily shook her head. "No, I asked Serena not to."

"Why? Are you ashamed of me?" Jayden feigned being hurt.

"No of course not," Emily giggled. "It's just that I don't want them to freak out. I mean…you're my first boyfriend and you happen to be the son of my mom's ex-boyfriend."

"I understand, but you know eventually your parents have to know about us being together."

"Do they really have to?" Emily whined sitting at the table.

Jayden laughed. "If I plan on making you Mrs. Heartman one day I'm going to want to be old fashioned and ask your parents for their blessing. That means I have to meet them."

"You think about that kind of stuff?"

"You're seriously asking me that? You're the one that dreams about our wedding." Jayden said recalling Emily's dream from when Rhinosnorous put her to sleep.

Emily blushed. "Touché,"

"So are you going to tell them anytime soon?"

"I will, after we master the symbol and send Master Xandred away forever."

"Then that should be soon, we're getting better with each passing day."

"Yeah, what are we having for dinner anyway?"

Jayden opened the oven door. "Looks like dinner was meatloaf. There's enough left for the two of us. Unless of course you want something else,"

"I don't care if Mia made it, I'm too tired to cook anything and I think you are too."

"Well lucky for us Mia didn't have time to cook dinner," Jayden pulled the leftovers out of the oven and set it on the table in front of Emily. "Bon appétit,"

They sat together eating in silence for several minutes, "Do you think my parents would be okay with us being together?"

"It's hard to say, your mom and my dad have a history."

"Yeah but it's not like he's your real dad and I know for a fact history isn't going to repeat itself."

"I know it too but there's always the possibility they won't accept me. What if they give you an ultimatum?" Jayden said worried.

"What do you mean?"

"Like what if they make you choose between me and them? Are you prepared for that?"

"I don't know…" Emily whispered. "I don't think they'd put me through that."

"Well if they do, I can't make you choose between me and them…so I'd want you to pick them."

Emily froze just as she was about to take another bite of her food. "You can't be serious,"

"Emily, they're your family. Trust me on this you can't live without them. I lost both my parents by the time I was eight."

"You've survived pretty well and you still had Steven."

"Who I only saw when it was my birthday, Thanksgiving and Christmas. Every time I had to say goodbye was harder than the time before." Jayden sighed sadly. "You don't want to know how hard it was to say goodbye to my mom. I don't want you to do that either."

"I don't want this to sound disrespectful or insensitive, but my mom is still alive."

"I know, but if she makes you choose and you pick me then you'll be dead to her and that's on me. I don't want you to hate me."

Emily held Jayden's hand. "I could never hate you Jayden and I think you're taking this fictional scenario too far. You're talking about something that may not even happen."

"I know I overthink things because I like being prepared, I just don't want to lose you."

"You're not gonna lose me, not ever."

Jayden smiled. "Till death do us part,"

Emily smiled and leaned over the table kissing Jayden. "Till death,"

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**What do you think? Is Jayden being paranoid about Emily's parents or what? Review please and thank you!**


	20. Surprise Visit

**Ch. 20 Surprise Visit**

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Emily just read an e-mail from Serena and regretted that she didn't check it before. It had been sitting in her inbox for two days. Emily headed outside where everyone else had already started their afternoon training. "Hey Emily, just in time. We were about to start."

"Jayden, I think we have a problem,"

"What kind of problem?" Ji asked. "You're not pregnant are you?"

"Of course not!"

Jayden looked at Emily with concern. "What's wrong Em?"

"I just checked my e-mail, Serena's made a full recovery."

"That's great news Emily," Mia said hugging her.

"How is that a problem?" Antonio asked.

"Is it because you planned on giving her the samuraizer when she came here and now you can't because of the sealing symbol?" Jayden asked.

"Well that _is _an issue, but the problem is that she _and _my parents will be here this afternoon."

The color drained from Jayden's face. "Which means they'll probably be here any minute." Emily nodded. "So what are you going to do? You didn't plan on telling them about us yet and you'll have to when you explain why it's best you keep the samuraizer."

"I'm not as worried about that as I am about your dad."

"What about me?" Steven asked walking outside with bottles of water for everyone.

"Um…" Before anything else could be said there was a knock on the door. "That must be them."

"You get the door Em, I'll explain to him what's going on." Jayden said. Emily nodded and went to answer the door.

"What's going on Jayden?" Steven asked.

"Uh…I don't know how else to say it so I'm just gonna come out with it. That's Emily's family at the door."

"What?"

"Her sister made a full recovery and now her family is here. But we'll have to explain to them that Emily has to keep her samuraizer because of the sealing symbol."

"I can't be here if Molly's here."

"I get that she hurt you but you can't hold a grudge forever."

"Steven?" Steven tensed up and slowly turned around. "It _is _you. What are you doing here?" Molly asked.

"I could ask you the same thing."

"I'm here to make sure my daughter takes her place in this battle." She replied placing a hand on Serena's shoulder.

"Uh, I'm gonna go take a snack break," Mike said finding an excuse to stay away from the drama.

"Me too, besides, Emily should catch up with her family." Kevin agreed following Mike.

Mia and Antonio looked at each other worriedly and followed the other two. "Good luck buddy," Antonio whispered to Jayden.

"Thanks for the backup." Jayden whispered back.

"You should know that you'll be compromising this war if she becomes the new yellow ranger."

"What are you talking about?"

Steven looked at Emily. "You never told them?"

"Told us what?" Emily's father asked her.

"Emily is a key component to the sealing symbol." Jayden said joining the conversation.

"What do you mean?"

"It takes two rangers to make it permanent." Steven said.

"I thought only the red ranger could do it."

"Molly," Ji started. "It seems that there was a page missing in the chapter about the sealing symbol. That's why it wasn't permanent when Steven performed it."

"So what does a missing page have to do with Emily?"

Ji turned around facing Jayden. "You want to explain to them the situation Jayden?"

"No but it looks like I don't really have a choice." Jayden set his training sword down and walked up to the family. "First of all, it's nice to meet you all. Serena, I've heard a lot about you."

"And I've heard a lot about you too."

"Mr. and Mrs. Pirtle," Jayden started. "The missing page was discovered and it held the secret to the sealing symbol. The secret to the symbol is that it also requires the combined power of love."

"What are you trying to say?"

"What I'm trying to say is that Emily and I have been dating for the last four months."

"What?" Molly looked at Emily. "Why didn't you tell us?"

"I didn't know how you'd react to me dating, especially considering he's the son of your ex-boyfriend."

"How'd you know about that?"

"Because I told them Molly, I told them everything. I tried to break them up but they're both so stubborn. I suppose Emily takes after you."

"Be nice," Jayden hissed. "Look, the point is that ever since we found out that the two of us could master the symbol, we've been working very hard on it." He looked at Serena. "I know it's your birthright, but Emily is the only other person that could do this."

"I understand, so I think it's best that she keep the samuraizer."

"You can't be serious Serena, Emily knew she'd have to give you the samuraizer when you got better."

"I know mom, we all anticipated that. We just didn't expect Emily to fall in love with her leader."

"I didn't expect it either," Jayden said. "I just hope that you can forget about your history with my dad and accept the fact that Emily and I are in love."

"It sounds like destiny to me," Serena said with a big smile.

"So what do you say?" Emily asked her parents. "Can you live with the fact that Jayden and I are together?"

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**WARNING! There's only one chapter left and more bad news, I go back to school on Monday (if y'all remember no wi-fi there) but it gives me a chance to think of more stories to write and upload when I come back home for Thanksgiving and Christmas**


	21. Three Years Later

**Thanks again to everyone who's reviewed, favored and followed this story**

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**Ch. 21 Epilogue: Three Years Later**

After they sealed away Master Xandered for good, Jayden went to train to be a firefighter. Helping people was in his blood and he couldn't ignore it. Emily worked at a local daycare center since she loved kids so much. Mia went to cooking school and just started working at a gourmet restaurant. Kevin went back to swimming and still has hopes to make it to the Olympics one day and he taught swimming part time. Antonio being the technological genius that he is, went to work at an electronics store. He has become the fastest and best repair guy the store has ever had which helps bring in more business. To everyone's surprise, Mike was the only one that went to college. He did his research and learned a degree in computer science would help loads with getting a job as a video game tester.

Emily was busy decorating her apartment with Mia's help. She had been given the day off for the special event she had planned, it was Jayden's twenty-first birthday. She asked the guys to keep Jayden busy for a bit so she could decorate the apartment and surprise him. She knew they'd probably take him to a bar and hoped he wouldn't come home drunk, she wanted Jayden to remember this day.

"They just got here!" Serena said peeking through a window.

"Everyone hide!" Emily ordered.

Everyone hid throughout the living room and waited for Jayden to walk in. "SURPRISE!" Everyone jumped out of hiding throwing confetti in the air.

"Whoa! You guys got me good," Jayden said.

"Happy birthday sweetie," Emily walked to Jayden and kissed him.

"Thanks, did you do all this?" Emily nodded. "Thank you,"

"No problem,"

"Okay enough with the talking," Mike said. "Lets get this party started and bump up the jam!" A second later the music started blaring.

Emily's parents walked up to the happy couple and Molly hugged her son-in-law. "Happy birthday Jayden,"

"Thanks Molly,"

For a while Jayden enjoyed the party with his closest friends and neighbors. He was happy that Emily's parents were accepting of his relationship with their daughter and was even surprised that Steven and Molly had even started acting civil for the sake of their kids. On their one year anniversary, just four months after the defeat the Master Xandred, Jayden proposed. Four months later were married and moved into their apartment upon returning from their honeymoon.

"Come with me Jayden," Emily pulled Jayden into the kitchen.

"Why'd you drag me from the party?"

"Sorry, sounds like you were having fun."

"I was, I can't think of anything that would make this party better. Except of course opening the presents now."

"Before we get to the presents, I want to give you mine first."

"What is it?" Emily gave him an envelope and inside was a black sheet of paper. "Is this an X-ray?"

Emily shook her head. "Not exactly,"

"Then what am I looking at?"

"Your child."

Jayden's eyes bulged out. "You're pregnant?" Emily nodded and Jayden hugged her and spun her around in happiness. "This is amazing! How far along?"

"Seven weeks,"

"I can't believe it, think we can handle kids?"

"After everything we've had to face, I think kids will be a piece of cake."

**Seven Months Later**

Emily woke up in a hospital room. She was still exhausted from the day she had. "Hey, glad to see you're awake." Jayden said entering the room with a small bundle in a blue blanket.

"Just woke up,"

"You deserve your rest, nine hours of labor is hard work."

"Don't I know it," Emily held her arms out. "Can I hold him?"

"Of course," Jayden sat on the bed next to Emily and carefully transferred his newborn son into Emily's arms. "I stuck to my part of the deal and picked a middle name, did you pick a first name?"

Emily smiled at her sleeping son. "I really like the name Reese." She looked up at Jayden. "What do you think?"

"Reese Parker Heartman, it's got a good flow to it. Reese it is." Jayden leaned down and kissed Emily on the lips.

Emily kissed her son's forehead. "Welcome to the world Reese."

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**Unfortunately the story has come to an end. Hope you guys enjoyed the way it turned out and as for Reese's name, I picked it because the red samurai was originally gonna be named Reese. Sadly, tomorrow I go back to a school lacking in wi-fi :(**

**GOOD NEWS!**

**Just started a new story I may call 'Jealous Jayden', here's a little preview:**

"So, what's bothering you?" She asked sitting next to him.

"It's Antonio and Mia."

"What about them? You don't like that they're together?"

"Oh no it's not that, I'm happy for them, honest."

"Then what's wrong?"

"I just…" Jayden paused. "I see how happy they are, and I can't help but wonder why can't I be happy too?"

"So you're jealous of them?" Emily asked trying to understand.

"In a way, yes. I want what they have. I want to know what it's like to be loved."

**Already have the first three chapters written!**


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